Making a Claim
Why a claim gets declined, in order of frequency
Declined claims cluster into a handful of causes, and nearly all of them are decided long before the loss happens.
Insured and Ready — Cover you understand before you need it
Making a Claim
The exclusions page is the policy
Cover is defined by what it refuses to pay for. Reading the schedule first tells you more than any summary.
Latest analysis
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Health Cover
Waiting periods are the part of health cover nobody reads
A health policy that is active is not necessarily a health policy that will pay. The gap is measured in months.
Life & Income
Income protection is the cover most people skip and most need
Insuring possessions is instinctive; insuring the income that buys them is not. The arithmetic points the other way.
Motor
The excess is the most under-used lever on a policy
Raising the excess lowers the premium immediately, and most policyholders would never have claimed for that amount anyway.
Motor
What a total-loss valuation actually means
When an insurer writes off a vehicle it pays market value, and market value is a specific figure you can contest.
Home & Contents
Home cover: the difference between buildings and contents
One insures the structure, the other insures what falls out if you turned the house upside down. The gap between them is where…
Quick reads
- Escape of water is the claim that ruins a houseHome & Contents
- Travel cover: the medical limit is the only number that mattersTravel
- Annual multi-trip policies and the trip-length trapTravel
- Term life cover is simple, and that is the pointLife & Income
- Auto-renewal is where insurance quietly gets expensiveMaking a Claim
- Chronic conditions are the boundary private health cover will not crossHealth Cover
- Outpatient cover is where two health policies stop being comparableHealth Cover
- Guided hospital lists: a cheaper premium bought with a shorter menuHealth Cover
- Pre-authorisation, not the invoice, decides whether treatment is paidHealth Cover
- Health cash plans do a different job from health insuranceHealth Cover
Health Cover
All health cover →Health Cover
Waiting periods are the part of health cover nobody reads
A health policy that is active is not necessarily a health policy that will pay. The gap is measured in months.
Health Cover
Chronic conditions are the boundary private health cover will not cross
Private medical policies are built to pay for episodes that end. A condition that never ends sits on the other side of the line.
Health Cover
Outpatient cover is where two health policies stop being comparable
Inpatient benefits look similar across the market. The outpatient limit is where the price difference actually lives.
Home & Contents
All home & contents →Home & Contents
Home cover: the difference between buildings and contents
One insures the structure, the other insures what falls out if you turned the house upside down. The gap between them is where…
Home & Contents
Escape of water is the claim that ruins a house
It is the most frequent large home claim in many markets, and much of the damage is decided by how fast the water is found.
Home & Contents
The average clause: how underinsurance shrinks a small claim
If your sum insured is short by a third, an insurer may cut a claim by a third — including a claim for a fraction of the total.
Motor
All motor →Motor
The excess is the most under-used lever on a policy
Raising the excess lowers the premium immediately, and most policyholders would never have claimed for that amount anyway.
Motor
What a total-loss valuation actually means
When an insurer writes off a vehicle it pays market value, and market value is a specific figure you can contest.
Motor
Comprehensive is often cheaper than third party, and that is not a mistake
The counter-intuitive pricing of motor cover levels tells you something real about how insurers read a quote.
Travel
All travel →
Travel
Travel cover: the medical limit is the only number that matters
Baggage limits are trivial next to the cost of an air ambulance. Most travellers compare the wrong figure.
Travel
Annual multi-trip policies and the trip-length trap
Annual cover is usually better value past three trips, and it fails quietly on the one long trip of the year.
Travel
Cancellation cover pays for reasons on a list, not for changed minds
Travel cancellation is one of the most misunderstood benefits in insurance: it responds to specified events, not to disappointment.
Life & Income
All life & income →Life & Income
Income protection is the cover most people skip and most need
Insuring possessions is instinctive; insuring the income that buys them is not. The arithmetic points the other way.
Life & Income
Term life cover is simple, and that is the point
Most people need a fixed amount for a fixed period. Almost everything more complicated is solving a different problem.
Life & Income
Critical illness pays on definitions, not on diagnoses
Two people with the same illness can get opposite answers from the same policy, because the contract measures severity rather than…
Making a Claim
All making a claim →Making a Claim
The exclusions page is the policy
Cover is defined by what it refuses to pay for. Reading the schedule first tells you more than any summary.
Making a Claim
Why a claim gets declined, in order of frequency
Declined claims cluster into a handful of causes, and nearly all of them are decided long before the loss happens.
Making a Claim
Auto-renewal is where insurance quietly gets expensive
Renewal pricing is not a reward for loyalty. In most markets it is the opposite, and it compounds silently.